Stellantis (STLA) , the multinational automaker that owns beloved American brands Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram Trucks, is entering 2025 while going through a unique transition period.
The company, which also oversees other famous European automotive brands like Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat and Maserati is coming off a tumultuous period that saw it make dramatic moves in an attempt to save itself.
Under the leadership of Carlos Tavares, Stellantis made some soul-crushing cost-cutting moves, including American factory worker layoffs, C-suite shifts, and attempts to fix the major inventory problems across its 14 brands.
After the automaker ruined its relationship with its factory workers and dealers, on December 1, Tavares exited his role as Stellantis CEO, leaving the helm to Chairman John Elkann and an interim executive committee. The company plans to announce a new chief executive later this year.
But as Elkann takes the temporary helm, his tenure as the leader of the embattled automaker comes amid pressure from multiple avenues.
Stellantis chairperson John Elkann at the Paris Motor Show
LUDOVIC MARIN/Getty Images
Elkann calls for “unity”
In a New Year’s message to Stellantis employees seen by Automotive News, Elkann called for “unity” amongst its employees, emphasizing that seeing the company at its former glory is a team effort by everyone at every level.
“Together with all our stakeholders — our customers, dealers, suppliers, and communities — we need to intensify our efforts to unify internally and externally for Stellantis to reach its full potential,” Elkann said in the email dated January 6. “Each of us plays a vital role in building this future. As we do so, we will find strength and inspiration in our history, our roots and our distinct identities, all of which make our company special.”
“I want to thank all of you for your commitment and passion for our company. We have come a long way since we created Stellantis. We should take inspiration from our wonderful brands that over the decades and centuries have shown their ability to adapt and shape our world.”
STLA chair has a tattered relationship with dealers to fix, a new survey suggests.
One of Stellantis’s pillars that Elkann desperately has to get on board is its dealerships, which had a tattered relationship with the automaker under former CEO Tavares.
In the latest dealership sentiment survey from Kerrigan Advisors, 72% of dealers surveyed said that they had no trust in the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram brands, which Stellantis owns. This feat unseated Ford as the most distrusted automaker in the country.
According to the survey, just 2% of dealers said they had high trust in Stellantis, and 26% said they had moderate trust. The level of current distrust has increased dramatically from just one year prior. In 2023, just 39% of dealers said they had no trust in Stellantis, which reflects a 33% jump in distrust year over year.
Related: Stellantis claps back after U.S. dealers blame CEO for ‘disaster’
Kerrigan Advisors notes that the anonymous survey of 635 dealers took place from June to November 2024.
In a letter dated September 10, the U.S. Stellantis National Dealer Council blamed the then-CEO Carlos Tavares front and center for what they called the “rapid degradation” of brands like Dodge, Ram, and Jeep, highlighting moves that hurt them.
“The market share of your brands has been slashed nearly in half, Stellantis stock price is tumbling, plants are closing, layoffs are rampant, and key executives fleeing the company,” the dealers wrote. “Investor lawsuits, supplier lawsuits, strikes–the fallout is mounting. Your own distribution network, your dealer body, has been left in an anemic and diminished state.”
In response, Stellantis derided the National Dealer Council for their “personal attack.”
“At Stellantis, we don’t believe that public personal attacks, such as the one in the open letter from the NDC president against our CEO, are the most effective way to solve problems,” Stellantis said in a statement.
“We have started a path that will prove successful. We will continue to work with our dealers to avoid any public disputes that will delay our ability to deliver results.”
In a December statement to AutoNews, Stellantis US Dealer Council chairman Kevin Farrish noted that Stellantis has been actively rebuilding trust under Elkann’s leadership. He noted that he held a video call with Dealer Council leaders just a day after Tavares exited the company.
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Elkann has his hands full, especially outside Stellantis
Elkann’s call for unity comes as his activities outside of his role at Stellantis gets more prolific.
Apart from his official role as Stellantis’ chairman, Elkann is also the CEO of Exor, a holding company that controls several interests of the Agnelli family—the industrial family behind Italian auto powerhouse Fiat. Besides Stellantis, Exor is a major shareholder in Ferrari, the Juventus Football Club, The Economist, and luxury shoemaker Christian Louboutin.
In an announcement yesterday, Elkann was named one of three new members of Meta’s (META) board of directors, alongside other notable figures like Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president and CEO Dana White and former Microsoft strategy lead Charlie Songhurst. On his personal Facebook page, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that Elkann brings “deep experience running large global businesses” and “an international perspective to our board.”
“I am honored to be able to contribute to the future of one of the most significant companies of the 21st century,” Elkann said in a statement from Meta. “I look forward to bringing my global experience and long-term perspective to the board as Meta continues to shape and push the next frontiers of innovation and technology.”
Stellantis NV is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as STLA.
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